kirby law alabama

My brother in law received a life sentence in Alabama for arson. the charge and sentence was a result of him burning his mattress after being notified that he would not be allowed to attend his brothers funeral. He received this sentence in 1986. He has served over 25 years on this sentence either incarcerated or on parole. He is currently in jail on a parole violation because of a new charge,. theft of property ( motor vehicle) . my question to you all is would i be filing the right motion to get the life sentence off him by filing under what we call the "kirby law" . This case was filed by an inmate by the name of kirby which essentially was based on the fact that alot of individuals were being given life sentences under alabama's habitual offender law that were illegal due to the fact that they were non-violet crimes. The alabama supreme court agreed with kirby and lifted the life sentence off him. this is what i'm trying to do with my brother in laws case. I'm not sure where to start. I believe there are some pre printed motions out there somewhere i'm just not been able to find them. could you first of all let me know if i'm filing the right motion and two tell me where to go to research this matter. Thank You, Eddie Harris

eddieboy1 said...This case was filed by an inmate by the name of kirby which essentially was based on the fact that alot of individuals were being given life sentences under alabama's habitual offender law that were illegal due to the fact that they were non-violet crimes. The alabama supreme court agreed with kirby and lifted the life sentence off him.

That is NOT what the case stands for. Mr. Kirby was given life without parole under the HO statute which, at the time, made LWOP mandatory. The law changed giving the sentencing court the option of imposing life with or LWOP and the state supreme court said that the change in the law should be retroactive. It did NOT remove the life sentence OR find it illegal. It simply gave those inmates currently serving LWOP the opportunity to petition the sentencing court to have their sentences reconsidered and perhaps to get resentenced to life with parole. In your brother's case, since he already got paroled, he's obviously already been given life with parole. That's the best he can do and Kirby doesn't apply.

I beg to differ with you guess again. you r right about some things u say about the kirby matter but very wrong about alot also. For one anyone in alabama can file anything and any motion they want in any court including federal court. Since most inmates r indigent they have to file their own motions. As far as kirby only pertaining to lwop that's also incorrect. I personally know dozens of individuals who had life sentences for non violet crimes that have had the sentences vacated and reduced using the principles of the kirby law. While u r correct about the original intent of the stature u r very wrong about not being able to file unless u r an attorney and that u have to have lwop to use the stature. My wife is one of the people i know who used kirby to get her life sentence reduced to a 20/ split 5 and probation using the kirby stature.

eddieboy1 said...

My brother in law received a life sentence in Alabama for arson. the charge and sentence was a result of him burning his mattress after being notified that he would not be allowed to attend his brothers funeral. He received this sentence in 1986. He has served over 25 years on this sentence either incarcerated or on parole. He is currently in jail on a parole violation because of a new charge,. theft of property ( motor vehicle) . my question to you all is would i be filing the right motion to get the life sentence off him by filing under what we call the "kirby law" . This case was filed by an inmate by the name of kirby which essentially was based on the fact that alot of individuals were being given life sentences under alabama's habitual offender law that were illegal due to the fact that they were non-violet crimes. The alabama supreme court agreed with kirby and lifted the life sentence off him. this is what i'm trying to do with my brother in laws case. I'm not sure where to start. I believe there are some pre printed motions out there somewhere i'm just not been able to find them. could you first of all let me know if i'm filing the right motion and two tell me where to go to research this matter. Thank You, Eddie Harris

I did not say your brother couldn't file a motion. If he's without counsel, he can file whatever he likes, wherever he likes. If he has counsel, then his attorney is who files motions. I said unless YOU are an attorney, YOU can't. If he has charges pending, this is not the time to try to argue modification of a prior sentence and I suspect his attorney has already told him that. Even for a Class C felony, if he has 3 felony priors, he's looking at no less than 15 years.

eddieboy1 said...For one anyone in alabama can file anything and any motion they want in
any court including federal court. Since most inmates r indigent they
have to file their own motions.

A person may always represent himself in court. But only a lawyer may represent someone else in court. If you are not a lawyer, you may not prepare or file any court motions for your brother. Doing that is the unauthorized practice law, which could result in legal problems for you.